Conspicuously hidden by a natural cave entrance in a lush valley north of Viñales, Pinar del Río, this ambitious state-run restaurant is called Palenque de los Cimarrones. True to its name, the eatery serves as a faux fortification inhabited by true-sized dioramas of runaway slaves making a life outside colonial Cuba’s brutal plantation society. The eatery’s evocation of the cimarrón [fugitive slave] as the mascot for this tourist attraction is consistent with long-standing government attempts to co-opt the image and history of rebellious slaves as fore-bearers of Cuba’s Communist Party. This restaurant’s signs and exhibits serve up this historically misleading message to go along with their masitas de cerdo. Viñales, Pinar del Río, June 2022.
Created by Guest Curator Arturo S. González, University of Miami.